


Absolutely the Same Man

by Bittie752



Series: Rose and her Doctor [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, F/M, Rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-03-26 06:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13852392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bittie752/pseuds/Bittie752
Summary: Just before the Eighth Doctor chose to regenerate on Karn he is visited by someone from his future.  She gives him the opportunity to see what kind of man he will become.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set after my story Journey's Beginning but can be read separately.

The Doctor let out a slow breath.  He’d been running from this war for as long as he could.  He still did not wish to fight.  When he had chosen his name, he had promised to never do harm. 

Maybe the Sisterhood of the Karn were right.  There was no choice.  Cass’ death showed him that.  Maybe he should regenerate into a new man.  Let his ninth face be the one who would do what needed to be done. Be a man who would no longer bear the name Doctor.

“What do you need now?” Ohila pressed.

The Doctor looked down at Cass’ body.  “Warrior.”

There was a hint of a smile on Ohila’s face. “Warrior?”

“I don't suppose there's a need for a doctor anymore.”  The Doctor’s face hardened. “Make me a warrior now.”

The woman handed him a steaming chalice.  “I took the liberty of preparing this one myself.”

The Doctor snatched it from her hand. “Get out. Get out! All of you,” he growled and the sisters began to leave.  He stopped Ohila for a moment. “Will it hurt?”

“Yes,” she replied simply.

The Doctor looked her in the eye. “Good.”

A moment later he was alone.  He held up the chalice.  “Charley, C'rizz, Lucie, Tamsin, Molly, friends, companions I've known, I salute you. And Cass, I apologise.” He raised the cup to his lips. “Physician, heal thyself.”

Before he had a chance to drink an earsplitting howl ripped through the air.

The Doctor set down his potion and looked around.  “What was that?” 

“It's just a wolf,” a soft voice said behind him.

He turned to see a woman with long blonde hair leaning against the wall.  She looked out of place wearing a long white Edwardian style dress in the middle of a war.

“Who are you?” he asked a bit more forcefully then he’d meant to.

She smiled and walked a bit closer to him.  “I heard you.”

“You heard me?” he repeated not understanding what she meant. 

“I hear you. All of you, jangling around in that dusty old head of yours. I chose this face and form especially for you.” She did a little twirl. “It's from your past. Or possibly your future. I always get those two mixed up.”

“Who are you?” He demanded.

She paused for a moment.  “I think I'm called Rose Tyler. No. Yes. No, sorry.  I am your Old Girl.”  At the Doctor’s shocked expression she shook her head again. “No, no, in this form, I'm called Bad Wolf.”  Her eyes glowed golden. “Are you afraid of the big bad wolf, Doctor?”

The Doctor stumbled backwards.  “I’ve gone mad.”

Raising an eye brow, the Bad Wolf smirked.  “No more than usual.”  Slowly she walked over and took his hand.  Inexplicably his fears were calmed.  There was an overwhelming sense of familiarity and warmth in her touch.

“You don’t want to fight,” she told him.  “You think that as the Doctor that you can’t.  So you want to pretend not to be the Doctor, to forget the pledge that you made.”

Thirteen voices filled the air speaking as one.  “ _Never cruel or cowardly. Never give up, never give in.”_

She squeezed his hand. “One day you will count them. One terrible night.  All the ones the Doctor couldn’t save. And all the ones you could. Do you want to see what that will turn you into?” She grinned at him. “Come on, aren't you curious?”

He nodded almost imperceptibly and her smile widened. A whirling portal opened above them.

“I'm opening windows on your future,” the Bad Wolf explained. “A tangle in time through the days to come, to the man today will make of you.”

A fez dropped through the portal.

“Okay,” she said bemused. “I wasn't expecting that.”


	2. Chapter 2

  **Outside of London, 2013**

The TARDIS was sitting at the end of the road and Rose revved the engine on her Vespa.  Jenny squealed and clung tighter to her mum. At the very last moment, Rose raised her hand and clicked her fingers.  The TARDIS doors sprang open.  Rose drove the scooter right into the console room stopping just  inside the door. She was laughing as she removed her pink helmet.

Not looking up from his copy of Advanced Quantum Mechanics, the Doctor said, “Draught”

“Sorry dad,” Jenny replied, snapping her fingers so the doors shut.

A small smile played on the Doctor’s lips, elated that his girls were home at last. He knew they needed their ‘girl time’ but a whole day away from him was just too long. The Doctor turned towards his wife and daughter and a memory of Rose in a pink skirt flashed in his mind.

 

“Oh,” he giggled.  “Going my way doll?”  Rose snorted and he pulled a face.  “Won’t be saying that again, doesn’t quite work with this mouth.”

“No it doesn’t, love.”  She gave him a quick kiss before going to put the Vespa away.

The Doctor walked over and put his arm around Jenny’s shoulders.  “Did you have a good time, dear?”

“Yes, mum, Gran, Aunt Donna, Uncle Jack and I had a spa day.”  She eagerly showed him her freshly painted nails. “Oh Aunt Donna wants to know if we’ll pick her and Uncle Shaun up next Friday for a little holiday and Gran wants to know what you would like for tea on Sunday.”

He wrinkled his nose.  “If your Gran is cooking, I’d say anything except her Shepard’s pie. Better yet, we could stop in Naples before we go and pick something up.”

“Be nice,” Rose admonished coming back into the room.

“This is me being nice.” The Doctor gave Jenny a kiss on the forehead before bounding over to his wife. “Fancy a week in ancient Mesopotamia followed by future Mars?”

“Will there be dancing?” Rose asked raising an eyebrow.

He pulled her into his arms and spun her around. “On the Moon.”  A soft, slow melody began to fill the room.

“The Moon'll do.” Rose smiled before he dipped her.

“You two are gross,” Jenny called as she headed up a stairway.  “I’m going to my room.”

“Teenagers,” the Doctor sighed.

“She’s 92,” Rose giggled.

He dipped her again.  “Like I said, teenager.”

Suddenly the TARDIS shook violently.  The Doctor toppled to the floor, pulling Rose with him.

“What’s happening?”  Jenny yelled running back into the room. “What did you do?”

Rose managed to get to her feet and helped pull the Doctor up.  “No idea.  This shouldn’t be happening.” 

“Whoa, whoa.” The Doctor ran around the console flipping switches. “We're taking off, but the engines aren't going.”

“View screen won’t turn on,” Jenny said thumping the side of the monitor.

“Old fashioned way then.” The Doctor skidded down the ramp.  Rose called out for him to be careful just as he threw the doors open.  “You have got to be kidding me.”

When he looked up, he saw that they were dangling from a helicopter.  A UNIT helicopter at that.  This was not going to be the fun family outing he had planned.  He reached over to phone in the box on the outside of the door and dialed.

“No need for theatrics, Doctor. There’s a phone up here,” Rose called from behind him.

He grinned, pretending to ignore his wife.  There was always a need for theatrics.

After two rings someone picked up. “ _Hello? Kate Stewart's phone.”_

“This is the Doctor,” he replied, annoyed.  “Put her on.”

 “ _Oh, hold on. Excuse me. Ma'am. Ma'am!“_

There was a brief pause while the phone was passed off.

“ _Doctor, hello_ ,” Kate replied happily.  “ _We found the TARDIS in a London. I'm having it brought in.”_

“No kidding,” he ground out, trying to keep his balance.  Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Rose and Jenny had come up behind him.

“ _Where are you?”_

Instead of answering he held the phone up towards the helicopter as they flew up the Thames.

“ _Oh, my god! Oh, Doctor, I'm so sorry. We had no idea you were still in there.”_

The TARDIS lurched and Doctor was thrown off balance. Rose managed to grab his feet before he fell.

“Should have used the console phone,” Rose grumbled.  “Or my mobile.”

“ _Doctor, can you hear me?”_ Kate yelled into the phone. “ _I don't think he can hear me.”_

The Doctor managed to grab the dangling phone. “Next time, would it kill you to knock?”

He slipped again and managed to grab hold of the base of the TARDIS

“ _I'm having you taken directly to the scene. Doctor, hello, are you okay?”_

Jenny grabbed the phone. “Sorry, we’re a bit busy here. I'm just going to pop you on hold.”  With that she hung up on Kate.

The helicopter carrying the TARDIS began to fly lower.  Soon it became obvious that they were going to land in Trafalgar Square.  Once they got a few feet from the ground the Doctor dropped and got out of the way of the landing TARDIS.

“Atten - shun!” a solider called as Kate Stewart and another woman in a lab coat and a long scarf came walking up. 

The Doctor brought his hand up in salute before thinking better of it.   “Why am I saluting?”  He turned to look behind him making sure that Rose and Jenny were joining him.

“Doctor, as Chief Scientific Officer, may I extend the official apologies of UNIT,” Kate said walking up to him.

“Kate Lethbridge Stewart, a word to the wise.” He shook his finger at her. “As I'm sure your father would have told you, I don't like being picked up.”

“Unless it’s by me,” Rose added coming up beside him. “Introductions…”                                   

“Oh yes, right.” The Doctor pointed to Kate. “Rose, Jenny this is Kate Lethbridge Stewart, Chief Scientific Officer of the Unified Intelligence Task Force. Kate this is my wife…”

“Rose Tyler,” Kate finished for him.  She extended her hand to Rose.  “It is truly an honor. You’re a bit of a mystery around here. We mistakenly believed that you had died after the business at Canary Warf. Then a few months later all records of you not in the black archive simply disappeared.”

Smiling warmly, Rose took her hand and shook it briefly.  “Some things are better left out of the public records.”

“Yes quite,” the Doctor interjected.  “And I believe that we can expect the utmost discretion on this as well.” He put his hand on Jenny’s shoulder and guided her forward.  “Kate, this is our daughter Jenny.”

Kate’s eyes widened before she looked over her shoulder to the young woman in the scarf. “Inhaler,” she instructed and the other woman took a puff of the medicine.

“Hello,” Jenny said shaking Kate’s hand.  “Dad speaks very fondly of your father and his time with UNIT.”

Rose snorted and the Doctor elbowed her in the ribs. “Stop it.”

Kate took a moment to collect herself.  “Again, I apologize for the manner with which we brought you and your family here Doctor. I'm acting on instructions direct from the throne. Sealed orders from her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the First.”

“The Queen? The First?” Rose asked smiling like a kid on Christmas morning. “Sorry, Elizabeth the First? I cannot wait to hear this.”

Kate handed the Doctor a wax sealed envelope. “Her credentials are inside.”

The Doctor turned the letter over in his hands. He was about to break the seal on the message when Kate stopped him.

“No. Inside,” she pointed back to the National Gallery. 

Rose took hold of the Doctor’s free hand and led him up the stairs.   Jenny walked behind them.

The Doctor turned back to the young woman in the lab coat.  “Nice scarf by the way.  What was your name?”

“Osgood,” she said managing a smile before the Doctor turned his attention back to Rose.

“Did you know he had a wife and daughter?” Osgood asked Kate quietly.

“No, we only knew that there was once a granddaughter,” Kate said shaking her head.  “But we need to keep this development discreet.  Understood?”

Osgood nodded before they started after the Doctor and his family.  “Yes ma’am.”

“Dad, did you know her, Elizabeth the First?” Jenny asked coming up beside her parents. There was a teasing tone in her voice.

“I only remember meeting her once, with Martha and Shakespeare.” The Doctor’s brow furrowed.  “She wanted me dead.  Never did discover why.”

“Did you know that Mum, Mickey, Martha and Jack have a bet on that,” Jenny said smiling.  “Looks like we might finally figure out who wins.”

The Doctor turned to Rose.  “Do I even want to know what your best guess was?”

“Dunno, maybe.  It was just a bit of a laugh one night down at the pub.” She smiled brightly at him and shrugged.  “I’ll tell you what Jack guessed though.” She pulled him to a stop and stood on her tip toes to whisper in his ear. 

The Doctor turned bright red and covered Jenny’s ears.  “That, Rose Tyler, is not what happened and should never be repeated in front of our daughter. 

Kate coughed to get their attention.  The group had entered a gallery.  A large covered painting stood in the middle of the room.  “Elizabeth's credentials, Doctor.”

The cloth dropped to reveal a three dimensional painting of a Citadel sitting on a hill against an orange sky.

“Is that…” Rose started.

“That’s impossible,” the Doctor faltered and he took Rose’s hand.

Jenny took a step closer.  “It’s beautiful.”

“Arkyitor,” Kate added.

“What?” the Doctor said at the same time Rose whispered. “Susan.”

“Why would Queen Elizabeth have a painting with that name?”  Jenny asked puzzled.   “Did she know Susan?”

The Doctor squeezed Rose’s hand tightly.   “Arkyitor was Susan’s name in High Gallifreyan but, that name, it also means rose.” He stepped closer, completely awe struck. “This painting doesn't belong here, not in this time or place.”

“How is that possible?” Jenny reached a hand towards it. “It's an oil painting in 3D.”

“Time Lord art.”  The Doctor studied the painting. “Bigger on the inside. A slice of real time, frozen.”

Kate cleared her throat again. “Elizabeth told us where to find it, and its significance.”

“It’s a message, from you Doctor.” Rose let go of his hand to wrap an arm around his waist. She leaned her head on his shoulder.  “We just need to figure out what you were trying to say.”

“The painting only serves as Elizabeth's credentials,” Kate explained. “Proof that the letter is from her. It's not why you're here.”

The Doctor quickly broke the wax seal and unfolded the letter that was still in his hands. Rose and Jenny peered over his shoulders as he read.

_My dearest love, I hope the painting known as Arkyitor will serve as proof that it is your Elizabeth who writes to you now. You will recall that you pledged yourself to the safety of my kingdom, to keep the wicked wolves at bay. In this capacity I have appointed you as curator of the Under Gallery, where deadly danger to England is locked away. Should any disturbance occur within its walls, it is my wish that you be summoned. God speed, gentle husband._

Rose pressed her lips together.  Despite the credentials, something about the letter didn’t sit right with her.  And it wasn’t the husband part, even if his last face did seemingly have a penchant for royals.

“What happened?” The Doctor turned to Kate.

“Easier to show you.” Kate gestured towards the other end of the gallery.

The Doctor, Rose and Jenny followed Kate.  A phone rang and a man standing next to Osgood answered his phone.

“McGillop,” he said in a clipped tone.  His jaw went slack and he stared at the retreating forms of the Doctor and his family.  “But that's not possible. I was just… Understood, sir…. But why would I take it there?”

Kate led them to another painting.  This one was of two people, one Queen Elizabeth herself. The other was the Doctor but not the one currently standing next to her. It was his last face. Rose raised a hand as if to touch the painting but pulled her hand back at the last moment.

“Elizabeth the First.” Jenny stated. “You knew her, then? Back then?”

“It would appear so,” the Doctor added agitatedly. 

“So she’d be what? My stepmum,” Jenny teased.  “Does this mean I get to be a princess?”

Rose giggled.  “I can’t really picture you a Prince Consort, Doctor.  Although…” She took a second to study his profile.  “You do look a bit like a young Phillip.”

Behind them Osgood laughed and Rose turned to her.  “It’s the jawline I think.” Rose added with a wink.

 

“This way,” Kate directed as the portrait swung open to reveal a door. “Welcome to the Under Gallery. This is where Elizabeth the First kept all art deemed too dangerous for public consumption.”

The Doctor stopped and scooped up a handful of sand on the floor.  “Stone dust.”

“What’s in from?” Rose asked bending down beside him.  “The statues?”  She noted that they were between two rows of statues that had been covered in dust sheets.

“Is it important?” Kate asked her curiosity peaked.

“In twelve hundred years I've never stepped in anything that wasn't.” Someone made a noise behind him. “Oi, you. Are you sciency?” He asked Osgood.

The young woman looked overwhelmed. “Oh, er, well, er, yes.”

“It was Osgood wasn’t it?” He asked smiling.

“Yes,” she managed.

“Good.” The Doctor strode toward her and poured the dust into one of her hands.  “Now, I want this stone dust analysed. And I want a report in triplicate, with lots of graphs and diagrams and complicated sums on my desk, tomorrow morning, ASAP, pronto, L O L. See? Job. I can still do this job. Still my job.”

He bopped Jenny on the nose before he turning to Kate. “Do I have a desk?”

“No.” Kate answered the Doctor before addressing Osgood, who was wheezing. “Inhaler.”

“And I want a desk,” the Doctor tittered walking past the group and further into the Under Gallery.

Rose patted Osgood on the arm.  “What he means to say is ‘Can you please analyse the dust sample and let him know if you find anything interesting?’ We really would appreciate the help.”

Osgood looked over Rose’s shoulder to Kate, who nodded.

“Thank you,” Rose said before she and Kate went to catch up to the Doctor and Jenny.

When Rose caught sight of her husband, he was opening one of the displays. She pressed her lips together to stifle the laugh. “Someday, you’ll be able to just walk past a fez right?”   

He popped the red hat on his head and twirled to face her. “Never gonna happen.”  Leaning down he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “You love me in a fez.”

“Not in public,” Rose said with a sly grin.

“Mum, Dad,” Jenny called from the next room.  “You’re gonna want to see this.”

They quickly joined Kate and their daughter in a small gallery room.

“This is why we called you in,” Kate indicated the broken glass that covered the floor.

“More Time Lord art, “Rose said glancing over the room while Jenny and the Doctor studied the debris.  “Do you have CCTV in here?” she asked Kate.

The other woman nodded.  “Yes but the feed was interrupted.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Rose replied biting her lip.

“This is interesting.”  Jenny held up a shard of glass to show the other women. “Look at the shatter pattern. The glass on all these paintings has been broken from the inside.”

“As you can see, all the paintings are landscapes. No figures of any kind.” Kate said looking at the portraits.

“So?” The Doctor replied.

She handed him a data pad with images of the original paintings. “There used to be.”

“Something's got out the paintings,” Rose muttered.

“Lots of somethings.” The Doctor replied looking around the room. “Dangerous.”

“This whole place has been searched,” Kate assured them. “There's nothing here that shouldn't be, and nothing's got out.”

Out of nowhere a wind kicked up time fissure opened.

“Oh no, not now.” The Doctor turned to face it.

“Doctor, I get the feeling I’ve seen this before. What is it?” Rose asked.

The Doctor made a disgruntled noise. “No, not now. I'm busy.”

“Is it to do with the paintings?”  Kate asked.

“No, no. This is different. I remember this. Almost remember. Oh, of course.” The Doctor turned to Rose.  “Let Jenny do the talking.  He can’t know you’re here yet.”  He leaned into her and pressed their foreheads together.

“Who can’t know?”  Rose asked confused.

“Me of course.”  He pulled back from her and threw his fez into the fissure. “This is where I come in.”

He took a running leap into the fissure.  “Geronimo!”

“Dad,” Jenny yelled trying to follow him but she was stopped by both Kate and her mum.

“Wait!” Kate cried. 

Rose took a deep breath and then smiled. She had no idea what her husband was up to but she was always excited for an adventure. “Give him a moment.  We’ll rush in and save him later.”


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor landed hard on the ground with a loud oof. 

“Who is this man?” An unfamiliar woman asked. 

The Doctor shook his head and pushed himself to his feet.  The next voice he heard was unmistakably familiar.  “That's just what I was wondering.”

The sight before him was slightly alarming. His Tenth self, in his fez,  standing very close to two versions of Queen Elizabeth in what looked to be a field.  Okay so this was full on alarming. For a moment her wondered if he’d hit his head when he fell through the portal.  He did a quick self-diagnostic but unfortunately he was perfectly fine.

Bloody hell, Rose was _never_ going to let him live this down.  

He looked his former self up and down. It wasn’t right seeing that face wearing his fez.  It also wasn’t possible that he was ever that thin. “Oh, that is skinny. That is proper skinny. I've never seen it from the outside. Donna was right; hugging you would give someone a paper cut.  It's like a special effect.

“Oi!” the Tenth Doctor protested.

The Eleventh Doctor sniggered as he knocked the fez off the other man’s head. “The hair is a bit off though.  I remember being able to get more height out of it.  What did you do to make it so sad?” The last bit came out as a stage whisper.

A dawn of recognition flashed on the Tenth Doctor’s face as the penny dropped. “You're not.”

“I am,” the older Doctor replied waggling his eyebrows.

They both reached into their jacket pockets and pulled out their sonic screwdrivers.  They silently compared them for a moment before the younger Doctor shrugged and put his away. “I see your compensating.  No, no I get it regeneration. It's a lottery.”

“Oh, he's cool. Isn't he cool? I'm the Doctor and I'm all cool,” the Eleventh snarked. “Oops, I'm wearing sandshoes.”  He shoved his sonic back into his pocket. “And I have never had any complaints just loads compliments.” Several times very recently he added to himself.

Exasperated the pinstriped Doctor rolled his eyes. “What are you doing here? I'm busy.”

The older Doctor picked up the fez. “Oh, busy. I see. Is that what we're calling it, eh? Eh?”  Rose was either going to find this amusing or her jealous streak was going to make an appearance. He wasn’t exactly sure which one he wanted to happen.

He turned around to face the two Queens “Hello, ladies.”

“Don't start,” the Tenth warned.

“Listen, I get that you’re lonely but really royalty? All that pomp and circumstance?” The Doctor in purple grimaced.  “Didn’t we run from Gallifrey because of the aristocracy and stodgy old rules?”

“One of them is a Zygon,” The younger Doctor explained.

“Urgh. I'm not judging you.” The Eleventh Doctor pulled a face. Reconsidering he shook his head. “On second thought I am judging you. I don’t believe you’re thinking clearly. When was the last time you had your head examined?”

“Oi, cut me some slack.  I just spent a year on the Valiant,” the man in brown said defensively.

“Ah yes, that would explain a lot” The Eleventh Doctor’s eyes softened.  “No companion usually means that we get ourselves into greater trouble. And after that business, it’s no wonder we’re meddling in things that ought not be meddled with.”

“I was doing quite well before you showed up, Thank you very much,” the younger Doctor grumbled.

The time fissure reappeared. Both put on their glasses to study the anomaly. They turned and noticed each other. “Oh lovely,” the both cooed at the same time.

“Right,” the older Doctor clapped his hands together and turned to the Elizabeths. “Your Majesties it’s probably a good time to run.”

“But what about the creature?” Both women spoke in unison.

The Tenth Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose. “Elizabeth, whichever one of you is the real one, turn and run in the opposite direction to the other one.”

“Of course, my love.” They spoke together once more.

One of them grabbed the pin stripped Doctor and snogged him. “Stay alive, my love. I am not done with you yet.”  The she ran off.

“Thanks. Lovely.” The Tenth said trying not to scowl.

“I understand. Live for me, my darling. We shall be together again.” The second kissed him hard before running off in the direction opposite of the other Elizabeth.

“Well, won't that be nice?” The younger Doctor wiped his mouth on his jacket sleeve.

“One of those was a Zygon.” The older Doctor tried not to sound repulsed.

“Yeah.”

“Big red rubbery thing covered in suckers.”

“Yeah.”

“Venom sacs in the tongue.”

“Yes, do you have a point? I was trying to save the world here.”

“And the best idea we could come up with to flush out the fake was to seduce the Virgin Queen?”  The Eleventh Doctor scratched his cheek.  “I’m beginning to see why she gets annoyed with me so much. I am a bit daft, especially with that face and those ridiculously tight trousers.  It’s a wonder she’s stayed with me this long.”

The Tenth Doctor looked perplexed. “Who are you...”  

He was cut off as Jenny’s voice came through the fissure. “ _Da…octor, is that you?”_

“Ah, hello, Jenny. Can you hear me?” her Dad asked.

 

Back in the Under Gallery Jenny leaned towards the fissure.

“Yeah, it's me. We can hear you. Where are you?” Jenny asked.

“ _Where are we?”_ her dad asked someone with him.

A new voice came through, one that both Jenny and Rose recognized. _“England, 1562.”_  Rose came up and squeezed her daughter’s hand, offering her comfort.

“Who are you talking to?” Kate enquired curiously.

 _“Myself,”_ Both men said in unison.

“Can you come back through?” Jenny asked.

“ _Physical passage may not be possible in both directions. Its. Ah! Hang on. Fez incoming!”_

The women waited a few moments but there was no sign of his preferred, ridiculous hat.

“Nothing here,” Jenny called.

“Thank god for that,” Rose muttered.

 _“So where did it go?”_ the Tenth Doctor asked.

Jenny turned to her mum, tears welling in her eyes. “There are two of them there.  The one with his last face…”

Rose wrapped her in a hug.  She knew the how conflicted Jenny must feel.  The Tenth Doctor had been the one who proginated her.  That was the man she had first bonded with, had first called dad.  And that was the man that she had expected to see when she had found the TARDIS again so many years ago.

Rose wiped the tears from Jenny’s face. She could empathize.  It was hard to love a man who could change his face.

Kate came up and placed a hand on Rose’s shoulder. “Keep him talking. We have a protocol to follow when there is more than one Doctor.”

“Good luck getting him to follow a protocol,” Rose snorted.

“ _Who was that?”_ The Tenth Doctor asked sounding surprised. 

Rose must have spoken too loudly. “Shit,” she cursed under her breath.

 Kate turned and walked out of the room asking someone on her mobile to start pulling an old file.

 

Back in 1562

The Tenth Doctor looking back and forth between the fissure and his older self.  “That sounded like…” He shook his head. “But it can’t be.  The Universe isn’t that kind.”

“Nope not kind.” The older Doctor wrung his hands.  He knew that at some point Rose would be reuniting with his younger self. He didn’t particularly like the thought of Rose seeing this particular face again. Oh he knows that she loved him, full stop, no matter the packaging.  But this is the face she built the dimension cannon to get back to.  The one she lost moments after being reunited with. Their meeting was inevitable but it also wasn’t the right time yet.  “Right, back to the task at hand then.”

The man in pinstripes locked eyes with his counterpart. “Okay, you used to be me. You've done all this before. What happens next?”

Just like every other meeting with a past self the details were fuzzy.  He only remembered as it happened.  “I don't remember.”

“How can you forget this?” He adjusted his tie.  “I mean look at me?”

“Hey, hang on. It's not my fault. You're obviously not paying enough attention.”

Suddenly a thought occurred to them. They both pulled out their sonics and pointed them at the fissure. “Reverse the polarity!” 

“It's not working,” the older man gripped.

“We're both reversing the polarity.”

“Yes, I know that.”

“There are two of us,” the younger man said slowly as if he was addressing a small child. “I'm reversing it; you're reversing it back again. We're confusing the polarity.”

Their bickering was cut off by a resounding howl.

“What was that?” The man in pin stripes scanned the area with his sonic.

The purple suited man’s eyes widened momentarily. He shrugged and feigned nonchalance.  “Probably just a wolf, nothing to worry about, I’m sure.”

“Just a wolf? Except it’s never just a wolf with us is it.”

There was a flash of light and a man in a long, tattered green frock coat fell from the fissure. “Anyone lose a fez?” he asked jovially, tossing the hat back towards the Doctors.

“You. How can you be here?” The Tenth Doctor took half a step backwards.  “More to the point, why are you here?”

“Good afternoon. I'm looking for the Doctor.” The youngest Doctor briefly looked over his shoulder and nodded to something the other two couldn’t see.

“Well,” the man in pinstripes sighed, “you've certainly come to the right place.”

“Good. Well, who are you boys?” The Eight Doctor gave them a charming smile. “Oh, of course. Are you his companions?”

“His companions?” The oldest Doctor was barely able to stop himself from stomping his foot.

“They get younger all the time.” The youngest Doctor clapped his hands together. “Well, if you could point me in the general direction of the Doctor?”

The two older men pulled out their sonics, demonstrating them for their former self.

He studied them for a moment. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Really.” 

“You're me?” A smirk played at the lips of the blue eyed Doctor.  “Both of you?”

“Yep.” The Tenth confirmed.

“Are you sure about that one?” He indicated the man in the purple coat.

“Yes!” The Eleventh said indignantly.

“Oh I see. I’m having a midlife crisis.” The youngest said his eyes twinkling with delight at frustrating his older selves.

The Tenth Doctor grinned. “Still, loving the posh gravelly thing we did. It's very convincing.”

“Brave words, Dick van Dyke,” the Eleventh snarked. 

“Oh shut up you purple dinosaur,” Ten shot back.

Above them the Eleventh Doctor heard Jenny and Rose’s giggles coming from the fissure.  Glad they found this situation so amusing.

 “Encircle them.”  A nobleman called as a group of soldiers suddenly surrounded them. “Which of you is the Doctor?” The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors pointed at each other.

“The Queen of England is bewitched.” The man continued. “I would have the Doctor's head.”

The Eighth rocked on his heels hands clasped behind his back. “Well, this has all the makings of your lucky day.”

 

In 2013 Kate returned to the Under Gallery and Jenny turned to her.  “There are three of them now.  Not sure who the newest one is but I think it’s an earlier version.

“There's a precedent for that,” Kate added thoughtfully.

Rose grinned and shook her head.  Whatever the precedent or procedure UNIT had put together, the Doctor was sure to do the opposite.  

 

In 1592, the nobleman looked at the fissure and the color drained from his face ashen. “What is that? What witchcraft is it?””

“Ah, yes. Now that you mention it, that is witchcraft.” The Eleventh Doctor rubbed his hands together excitedly. “Yes, yes, yes. Witchy witchcraft. Hello? Hello in there. Excuse me. Hello Jenny!”

“ _Hello_ ,” Jenny called trying a failing to do a convincing cackle. 

Am I talking to the wicked witch of the well?

“Jenny, love, be a dear and tell these prattling mortals to get themselves be gone?” Her dad grinned at the soldiers as he spoke.

“ _What he said_ ,” Jenny called back unconvincingly.

The Doctor grimaced. “Yes, tiny bit more colour.”

Rose’s voice came through next, doing a much better witch impression.  “ _Prattling mortals heed my word.  Leave this place or I shall huff and puff and turn you all into pigs.”_

“Ooo, pigs. Nice.” The oldest Doctor tried to ignore the look of panic on the Tenth Doctor’s face after he’d heard the words huff and puff.  Too many wolf references to ignore them now.   “You heard her.  Let us go or I’ll make sure you are bacon by morning.”

The Doctor in the green coat simply looked amused.

“ _Doctor, what's going on?”_ Kate asked.

“It's a timey-wimey thing,” the Doctor in purple said with a shrugged.

The youngest Doctor stepped forward looking exasperated. “Timey what? Timey-wimey?”

After opening and closing his mouth several times, the Tenth Doctor simply shook his head.  “I've no idea where he picks that stuff up.”

There was a murmuring amongst the soldiers.  One by one they began to fall to one knee. “The Queen. The Queen.”

One of the Elizabeths appeared before them.  “You don't seem to be kneeling. How tremendously brave of you.”

The Tenth Doctor looked annoyed. “Which one are you? What happened to the other one?”

“Indisposed.” Elizabeth smirked. “Long live the Queen.”

“Long live the Queen,” the soldiers chanted.

Elizabeth looked over the three Doctor’s and turned her nose up at them.  “Arrest these men. Take them to the Tower.”

“That is not the Queen of England,” the Doctor in pinstripes said moving forward. “That's an alien duplicate.”

“And you can take it from him, cos he's really checked,” the man in the bowtie replied biting back a smile.

“Oh, shut up,” Ten yelled back.

“Venom sacs in the tongue.” The Eleventh Doctor stuck his own tongue for effect.

“Seriously, stop it,” the Tenth Doctor begged.

“I’m just saying my choice of snogging partner is perfectly venom free.  But to each face his own.” The man in purple said looking up at the fissure.  Suddenly an idea struck him. “No, hang on. The Tower. Did you say the Tower? Ah, yes, brilliant. Love the Tower.”

He spun round and gesticulated wildly. “Breakfast at eight, please. Will there be Wi-Fi?”

“Did something go terribly wrong this go round?” The youngest Doctor rolled his eyes.  “Are you even capable of speaking without flapping your hands about?”

“Yes.” The older man shoved his hands in his pockets only to pull them out a second later. “No. I demand to be incarcerated in the Tower immediately with my co-conspirators Sandshoes and Mr. Darcy.”

“Mr. Darcy,” the man in the green coat huffed. 

“They're not sandshoes,” the Doctor in pinstripes protested.

The Eight Doctor laughed. “Yes, they are.”

“Silence! Your wolf is at the door Doctor and the Tower is not to be taken lightly,” Elizabeth said haughtily. “Very few emerge again.”

Back in Under Gallery, Kate smiled. “Dear God, that man's clever. Come on,” she called leaving the room.

“Where are we going?” Rose started to follow tugging Jenny with her.  

“My office, otherwise known as the Tower of London,” Kate answered.  “He’ll be sending us a message.”

Jenny’s brow furrowed.  “Why don’t we just use the TARDIS?” she whispered to her mum.

“There is already one TARDIS there and we only know the year, not the date.” She squeezed Jenny’s hand.  “The Doctor needs us to go the Tower so for now we go.  I’m pretty sure the message he’s sending is exactly what we’ll need to save the three of them.”

“And how do you feel about that?” Jenny asked.  “Because I’m a bit nervous about seeing his last face again.  The last time he saw me I died and we don’t even know where he is in his timeline.”

“To that him you may not have even been progenated yet,” Rose said understandingly.  “And the other one has to be from before the war since I didn’t recognize the voice.  So he won’t know either of us.” There had been a part of her hoping that her first Doctor would have been there too.

“It’s going to get a bit weird isn’t it,” Jenny asked.

Rose laughed.  “With your dad it’s always a bit weird.”


	4. Chapter 4

The warder pushed the Doctors into the cell. “Come on, you lot, get in there.”

As soon as the door shuts the Eleventh Doctor found a piece of metal. He kneeled down to start scratching something into a stone pillar. “Three of us in one cell? That's going to cause some nasty anomalies if we don't get out soon.”

“What are you doing?” the Tenth asked.

“Getting us out,” he replied curtly not looking up from his work.

“Sending a message to your nonvenomous snogging partner I suppose,” the man in pinstripes said with an eye roll.

“What if I am?” The oldest Doctor looked up and smirked.  “Are you jealous?”

A scowl formed on the Tenth Doctor’s face.  “No. Not unless it were…” He trailed off as the Eighth Doctor started using his sonic on the wooden door.  “The sonic won't work on that, it's too primitive.”

The man in green shrugged. “Shall we ask for a better quality of door so we can escape?  Or perhaps one of you could just remember how to get us out.  Or will you be too busy insulting each other?”

The Tenth Doctor rolled his eyes. “Okay, so the Queen of England is now a Zygon. But never mind that. Why are we all together? Why are we all here? Well, me and the eyebrowless wonder, we were surprised, but you came looking for us. You knew it was going to happen. Who told you?”

The youngest Doctor looked up to see the Bad Wolf holding her finger to her lips.  She winked at him and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

“Oi,” the Eleventh Doctor called indignantly. “I have eyebrows. Thank you very much.”

“Barely,” the Doctor in green scoffed.

In 2013, Kate led Rose and Jenny down a corridors. “The Black Archive. Highest security rating on the planet,” she explained. “The entire staff have their memories wiped at the end of every shift. Automated memory filters in the ceiling.”

They reached a small desk and Kate handed a man her key. “Access, please.”

The man nodded. “Ma'am.”

Kate smiled affectionately. “Atkins, isn't it?”

“Yes, ma'am,” he beamed back. “First day here.”

Over her shoulder Kate whispered, “Been here ten years.”

“You’re messing with people’s heads without their knowledge.” Rose scowled. UNIT was beginning to seem a bit too much like Torchwood One for her liking. “How much permanent brain damage has that caused him?”

Knowing that her mum was not happy, Jenny attempted to change the subject. Hopefully she could stop her mum from breaking something.  Namely whatever it was that UNIT was using to erase people’s memories. ”Lock and key? Bit basic, isn't it? I’d expect you to be using something much more high tech.”

The trio walked into the storage room.

“Can't afford electronic security down here. Got to keep the Doctor out,” Kate said matter-o-factly, failing to notice Rose’s growing anger.  “The whole of the Tower is TARDIS-proofed. He really wouldn't approve of the collection”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have it,” Rose said crossly.

“But you let us in,” Jenny noted.  “Why bring us in if you won’t let Dad inside? If he disapproves, who’s to say that we won’t feel the same?”

“Today, that’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Kate answered.  They came to a stop in front a glass enclosed room.

“Where the hell did you get a vortex manipulator?” Rose asked walking over to the device.

“It was bequeathed to the UNIT archive by Captain Jack Harkness on the occasion of his death,” Kate explained and when Rose scoffed she smiled. “Well, one of them. No one can know we have this, not even our allies.”

“Because _you_ shouldn’t have it,” Rose replied.  “Time travel is dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“There’s not much we can do with it anyway. There may only be enough power for a one way trip.” Kate ignored the skeptical looks that Rose and Jenny were giving her. “In any event, we don't have the activation code. The Doctor knows we have this, so he's always kept the code from us. Let's hope he changes his mind.”

Her phone rang. “Yes? Well, if you've found it, photograph it and send it to my phone.”

Just then Osgood and the other scientist from the Under Gallery walked in.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Jenny whispered and Rose asked about the newcomers.

“Oh, they've probably just finished disposing of the humans a bit early,” Kate answered nonchalantly.

Rose pushed her daughter behind her. “The humans?”

“Dear me. I really do get into character, don't I?”  Kate and the other two UNIT scientists transformed into Zygons.  “Prepare to dispose of two more life forms. We have acquired the device.”

Kate’s phone dinged.  Someone had texted her photograph of an old carving, the Doctor’s message. Rose strapped the vortex manipulator to her wrist and typed in the activation code.  “Hold on kid,” she said placing Jenny’s hand on the device.  A second later they disappeared.

 

 

In the Tower dungeon, the Eleventh Doctor was still scratching his message into the stone.  The Bad Wolf sat next to the youngest Doctor on a bench. The other two were unable to see her, not that they were bother to look in the direction of their previous self.

“In theory,” the youngest one broke the silence. He hated silence. “I can trigger an isolated sonic shift among the molecules, and the door should disintegrate.”

“Help is coming,” the Eleventh said finishing his carving and standing up.  “She should be here any minute, now that that’s done.”

“Then how should be pass the _time- wimey_ until your help gets here,” the Doctor in green huffed.  “Do you two honestly know how childishly you talk?  How you act?  What makes you so ashamed of being a grown up. Oh and the way you both look at me, when you will look at me. What is that? I'm trying to think of a better word than dread.”

“I’m sorry,” the Tenth Doctor said sympathetically.  “The Time war, it’s still happening for you, especially if you still have that face. I’m afraid the worst is yet to come.”

“I’m still not sure how you broke the Time Lock,” the oldest said sadly.  “We’ll that’s not entirely true, I think I have a very good idea. Not that I fully understand why.”

 “To them what was about to happen on Karn is history,” the Bad Wolf said softly. “They think their past is real and they remember how they felt when they made the choice to become the warrior.  How it felt to try to leave the Doctor behind.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” the Eighth Doctor said looking down at his hands.

The Bad Wolf laid a hand on his knee and he instantly felt some of his tension release.  When she spoke again he felt braver. “I brought you here so you could get the answers that you want. Go on, ask them. Ask them what you need to know.”

“Did you ever count?” the Eight Doctor asked looking up at his future selves..  “Count how many lives we took in the war?”

The oldest Doctor stared at the door, grinding his teeth.  “I have absolutely no idea.”

The Doctor in green stared as “How old are you now?”

“Twelve hundred give or take a few decades,” he replied still not looking at either of the other men.  “Why?”

“Five hundred years older than me and in all that time you've never even wondered how many there were? You never once counted?”

The Doctor sighed and wrung his hands. “Tell me, what would be the point?”

“Eight point four seven billion, on Galifrey alone,” the Tenth Doctor said sadly. He turned on his next persona. “You forgot? A few hundred years, is that all it takes?”

“I moved on,” the Eleventh Doctor touched the wedding ring he wore.

“Where?” the man in pinstripes spat. “Where can you be now that you can forget something like that? For once I would like to know where I'm going.”

The oldest Doctor looked back at the door.  He knew that Rose was going to be here any moment, more than likely Jenny too.  These men were about to get a very clear look at their future, one that for vastly difference reasons neither would have ever imagined.  He was happy and he wasn’t about to let his past selves make him feel guilty for that.

“You asked me how many people died because of us.  Why aren’t you asking how many lived,” the Eleventh Doctor replied softly.  “Fourteen trillion people lived because we did what we had to do in the Time War.  Another 97 planetary systems are around today because we found a way to keep going after we bathed our hands in blood.

“Parallel worlds still exist because we found the strength to move forward. The whole of reality was saved because we took brilliant humans on adventures through the stars and taught them to be their best selves.  What we did was unforgivable but the regret of what we did to save the universe is what keeps us going.  It may look bleak now, for both of you, but real happiness is possible. I promise you.”

The Bad Wolf took the Eighth Doctor’s hand.  “This is who you’ll become.  They don’t deny what they have done, what you will still have to do.  They don’t run from it. They take the pain that they endured and use it to heal, to be the Doctor.”

“How?” the man in pinstripes asked.  “How can you be happy?”

“Sometimes, Doctor, happiness is simply having the right hand to hold,” Rose said tenderly from the now open door.

Her husband beamed while both other Doctor’s jumped.

“Rose,” the Tenth whispered while the Eight exclaimed “Bad Wolf.”

Rose looked over to where the youngest Doctor sat and her eyes went wide.  Unlike the other two men, she could see the woman with him.  “Well that explains what caused the time fissures.”

“Where’s Jenny,” her husband asked before the younger two Doctors could question her. 

“Don’t worry love, she’s around here somewhere, you know teenagers,” Rose said with a sly grin.  “She prefers not to be around for the immediate reunion part of the adventure.” Her husband wasn’t quite convinced of her answer but he decided to let it go for now.

The Tenth Doctor crossed the room and wrapped Rose in a tight hug. He sighed as he buried his face in her neck. “How are you here?”

“Well the door was unlocked,” Rose laughed.  “How can there be three of you locked in a room and not one of you could be bothered to check the door?”

“That’s not what I meant.” The Tenth Doctor said into her hair.

She leaned back far enough to look into his eyes.  “It’s a long story, but the short version is that we needed each other, so I’m here.”

The Eighth Doctor cleared his throat and reluctantly his older self and Rose broke apart. “Curious, why wasn’t the door locked?  Why put us in a cell and leave us free to escape?”

“Because I was fascinated to see what you would do upon escaping,” Queen Elizabeth said stepping into the room. “I understand you're rather fond of this world. It's time I think you saw what's going to happen to it.”

Her eyes fell upon Rose.  “And who are you?”

The Eleventh Doctor stepped forward and took Rose’s hand.  “This is my wife, Dame Rose of the Powell Estate. She was distressed when I didn’t return home and came searching for me.”

“Your Majesty,” Rose said with a curtsy. “It is truly my honor to meet you ma’am.”

Elizabeth looked Rose up and down appraisingly for a moment before giving a curt nod. She turned to her Doctor.  “Come my darling, I have much to show you.  Bring your friends.”

She took the Tenth Doctor by the arm and led the group from the room.  The eldest Doctor took his wife’s hand and leaned over to her.  “Are you alright?  I mean with _everyone_ here.”

“It’s a little odd,” she grinned at him. “But after nearly 300 years married to you odd is normal.  Oh and speaking of odd, Kate’s a Zygon and they were after the vortex manipulator.”

“Okay, I was not expecting that,” he husband responded, taken aback.

“I believe that I can explain,” Elizabeth said coming to a stop. “The Zygons lost their own world. It burnt in the first days of the Time War. A new home is required.”

“And they want Earth,” Rose said with a frustrated sigh.

“Not yet. It's far too primitive. Zygons are used to a certain level of technological comfort.”  Elizabeth turned to the closest Zygon to them and ordered him to be translated.  The alien put his hand on a glass cube and was transported into one of the 3D landscapes from the Under Gallery.

“Amazing,” Rose said stepping towards the Queen.  “It’s like some sort of suspended animation right?  Couple hundred years from now, they’ll break out of these paintings in the Under Gallery, yeah? Invading the future form the past.”

The Eighth Doctor walked over to the cube and pocketed it.  “Very clever,” he praised Rose and moved towards her. “It's a stasis cube. Time Lord art. Frozen instants in time, bigger on the inside, but could be deployed as a weapon.”

“It’s like a cup-a-soups, just add Time,” the Eleventh Doctor said with a grin.  Rose shook her head and suppressed a giggle at her husband’s strange if apt analogy.

Stepping towards the Queen, the Tenth Doctor went into a bit of a rant about her identity. “And do you know why I know that you're a fake? Because you're such a bad copy. It's not just the smell, or the unconvincing hair, or the atrocious teeth, or the eyes just a bit too close together, or the breath that could stun a horse. It's because my Elizabeth, the real Elizabeth, would never be stupid enough to reveal her own plan. Honestly, why would you do that?”

“Because it's not my plan,” her Majesty assured him. “And I am the real Elizabeth. My twin is dead in the forest. I am accustomed to taking precautions.”

“He’s going to get himself executed,” Rose muttered under her breath. “Or forced to go through with the wedding.”  The other two Doctor chuckled.

 

“Okay,” the man in brown bumbled. “So, backtracking a moment just to lend context to my earlier remarks.

 “These Zygon creatures never even considered that it was me who survived rather than their own commander,” Elizabeth explained. “The arrogance that typifies their kind.”

“Men.” Rose nodded knowingly and Elizabeth grinned. “I’m impressed that you were able to overtake one of them.”

“I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but at the time, so did the Zygon,” the Queen replied. She turned to her betrothed. “The future of my kingdom is imperiled. Doctor, can I rely on your service?”

“Well, I'm going to need my TARDIS.” The Tenth Doctor scratched the back of his neck.

“It has been procured already,” Elizabeth said leaning into him. “But first, my love, you have a promise to keep. It is time for a wedding.”

The Doctor in pinstripes looked extremely uncomfortable.  He chanced a look at Rose who he expected to look annoyed.  However he was shocked to find her ginning like the cat that got the cream.

“A wedding sounds lovely, Your Majesty. May I be of assistance getting you ready?” Rose asked coming over to take the other woman’s arm.  “Is there a garden nearby? I can make a lovely bouquet.”

The two ladies walked off laughing and making plans. Two of the Doctors looked surprised.  The third looked annoyed and muttered “Not again,” under his breath.

“What did I miss,” Jenny asked coming up to take her dad’s arm.

The oldest Doctor turned to look at her.  “Well your mother is apparently helping Queen Elizabeth plan her wedding  You know how much she enjoys throwing a wedding.”  Both he and Jenny ignored the shocked looks on the other men’s faces

Jenny grinned knowingly.  “And who, pray tell is Liz 1 marrying?  Has someone been naughty?”

“Me apparently,” the Tenth Doctor replied dejectedly. He turned an appraising eye on the blonde.  “And who are you?”

Jenny’s hand tightened on her father’s arm.  She had known that it was very likely that the Tenth Doctor wouldn’t know her yet but it still didn’t cause it to hurt less when he looked at her without recognition.

“Ah yes introductions,” her dad said puffing out his chest.  “Jenny, these two really need no introduction considering they’re me.  Gentleman, this is our daughter Jenny.”

The younger Doctors had varying degrees of amazement on their faces. Neither one said anything however. Jenny looked slightly uneasy as she gave a small wave to the other men. 

“She’s our daughter?” the Tenth Doctor finally managed and a small flicker of hope lit in his eyes.  “With Rose?”

The oldest Doctor wrinkled his nose.  “It’s a bit more complicated than it sounds.  Or less perhaps.” He grinned at his daughter before looking at his previous self.  “But you’ll get to figure all of that out when you meet our girl in a few months.”

“Spoilers,” Jenny added taking a deep breath and let it out slowly before tugging on her father’s arm and heading out of the tower.  The other two bewildered Doctors following them.

Once they had reached the courtyard the oldest Doctor looked down at her.  “So do you want to tell me what you were up to when Mum was breaking us out?”

“Not particularly, no.” Jenny gave him a cheeky smile.  “So Mum is planning a wedding. What does that make this fifteen to one?  I’m sure she’s going to make it brilliant for Lizzy,” she teased.  “Maybe I should go help her out.”

Before he could stop her, Jenny was bouncing away.  She had spotted Rose and Elizabeth across the courtyard.  Rose was pulling together a bouquet while Her Majesty was speaking to an officiate.  The Doctor, two of them at least, were developing a headache.  The third was smiling delightedly.

“What did she mean fifteen to one?” the youngest Doctor asked.

The man in purple sighed.  “A few years back, I made the error and accidently proposed to someone because I was too busy grand standing to pay attention to social minutiae.  My lovely and very real wife, Rose, teased me mercilessly about how I tend to bumble into a situation and get in my own way.  I disagreed.  I should have known better than to taken that bet.”

The man in green smiled.  “So since then you’ve managed to get yourself in the same situation fifteen more times?”

“Yes,” the oldest said distastefully.  “She was actually going to be Marilyn Monroe’s maid of honor before Joe DiMaggio objected during the ceremony.  And to make matters worse, the one time that she ended up engaged to this very lovely woman on Celistia 7, it was actually my fault.  Not that I’ve told her that.”

“And we married this woman?” the Eighth Doctor looked delighted.  “Extraordinary.”

The eldest Doctor preened; happy in the knowledge that his younger self approved of their Rose.  He turned to the man in pinstripes who still looked put out.  “Come on boy-o.” He clapped a hand on the other man’s shoulder.  “Don’t think that just because she misses that pretty face of yours that she’s going to let you out of this.”


	5. Chapter 5

Rose leaned into her husband’s side as she watched Liz 1 gush over her decidedly uncomfortable second Doctor.  “You are evil for making him do this when all he wants to do is get you to himself,” the Doctor stage whispered.

She shrugged and gave him a tongue touched grin.  “He needs to get banished good and proper. Not to mention the letter said ‘gentle husband’,” she said with a snort. “It would cause a paradox if this didn’t happen.  We are part of events, can’t go rewriting time once we’re in it.”

 “Do you, Doctor, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife,” the clergyman asked the Time Lord in brown.

“I hate it when you use talk to me like that just to get your way,” the Eleventh Doctor replied, sounding more aroused than angry.

“Stop it,” she swatted his arm. “You love me.”

The Tenth Doctor looked up at Rose’s words.  He met her eyes and smiled.  “I do.”  Rose giggled realizing that he spoke that confession at precisely the wrong time.”

“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the clergymen pronounced.  “You may kiss the bride.”

Rose and Jenny threw handfuls of flowers at the not so happy couple and Elizabeth enthusiastically kissed her groom.

“10 out of 10 for gusto,” Jenny said cheekily.

Rose snorted.  “Only on her end,” she retorted.  “I think he’d rather it be the Zygon again. Or a Slitheen. Although, with as tight as she’s holding him, are we sure she doesn’t have tentacles.”

The Eighth Doctor laughed and caught Rose’s eye.  She gave him a tongue touched grin and was surprised when he actually blushed.

The groom finally managed to extricate himself from his clingy bride. “I really must be off.”

“God speed, my love.” She tried to go in for another kiss and he put his finger on her lips.

“I will be right back.”  And with a quick look at Rose, he took off towards he TARDIS.

“Right then,” the eldest Doctor said clapping his hand. “Back to the future. Ladies” He offered an arm to Rose and put his free hand on Jenny’s back.  Together with the youngest Doctor they made their way into the ship.

“Hello gorgeous,” Rose said placing a hand on the closest coral strut.  The TARDIS hummed back warmly.

The Eighth Doctor pulled a face. “You've let this place go a bit.”

“Ah, it's his grunge phase,” the eldest comment with mild distaste. “He grows out of it.”

“Oi,” Rose replied indignantly.  “Shut up.  I love this desktop.”

The Tenth Doctor winked at her and bounced around the console sending them into the vortex.  Jenny joined him beginning to enter coordinates.  “Black Archive right?” she asked looking to her mum.

“Yep,” Rose said popping her p.  “Can’t let the Zygons have access to that.”  She walked over to her daughter and leaned in conspiratorially.  “Did you get it?”

“What do you think I’m an amateur? Course I did.”  Jenny grinned and pulled a large box out of her bigger on the inside pockets.

“Oh, so do I get to find out what you were up to?” the Eldest Doctor asked his daughter.  “What did you nick from your step-mummy?”

“Oi,” the Tenth Doctor cried.  “I hardly think that wedding counts since we are apparently already happily married.”

“Still,” Rose said moving to bump the Tenth Doctor’s hip with her own.  “You probably shouldn’t have gone with the ‘let’s propose to who the Virgin Queen who I think maybe a Zygon to try and flush them out’ tactic.  It just ended up hurting a wonderful woman and got you banished. Again.”  She tempered the comment with a smile, letting him know she wasn’t mad.  Just that she wished he would have done things differently.

“Don’t bother with the admonishment, my love,” the Eleventh Doctor said taking the box from his daughter before grinning at his wife.  “It’s not like I’ll ever actually learn.  It’s a bit of an old dog new tricks situation. Plus if I did, you’d never get to collect your reward for winning our bets.”

“And I’ll be collecting on that as soon as this adventure is over,” Rose replied with a saucy smile.

The Eleventh Doctor grinned and adjusted his bowtie before he examined what Jenny had pilfered. It was actually an ornately carved writing box.  One that belong to the Queen herself.  “Why would you need this?”

“In case mum needs to write a letter,” Jenny replied with a wink to her mum.

The Doctor handed the box over to his youngest self and pulled Elizabeth’s letter from his pocket.

“Penny in the air,” Rose chuckled.

The Doctor in purple looked back and forth between his wife and the red parchment.  “I am so thick,” he finally managed to say.

“And the penny drops,” Jenny laughed.

“What?” the Tenth Doctor asked looking confused.

The oldest Doctor shook his head.  “The painting is called Arkyitor and there is no way I would have sat for those other portraits. The wolf reference in the letter and the handwriting…”  He handed the letter over to his previous self.  “It’s Rose’s.”

He chanced a look over to his wife who wore a smug smile.  “You knew, the whole time that it wasn’t from Elizabeth?”

“Figured it out pretty quickly, yeah,” Rose said with a shrug.  “Figured a woman you left basically at the alter wouldn’t be keen on writing you love letters.”

“You are brilliant, you are,” her Doctor in the brown suit said sweeping her into a bone crushing hug.  He pulled back slightly and leaned down towards her as if he might kiss her.  Unfortunately they were interrupted.

“So Black Archive is overrun with Zygons,” the Doctor in green said abruptly.  “Do they still have that nuclear war head underneath it?”

“Bloody hell,” the Tenth Doctor cursed, pulling away from Rose.  He ran around the console, giving Jenny instructions as she tried to help.  Rose and the other two Doctor’s joined in but no matter what they tried the TARDIS wouldn’t land.

“Kate said the Tower of London is totally TARDIS-proof,” Jenny said in frustration.  “Ugh human stupidity.”

Rose laid a hand on her daughter’s arm.  “We’ll figure it out.”

The Eighth Doctor pulled the stasis cube out of his pocket. “We don’t really need to land do we?”

“Yeah, we do. A tiny bit. Try and keep up,” the Doctor in pinstripes growled.

“No, we don't. There is another way,” Eight replied tossing the cube up in the air and catching it.  He winked at Rose. “Cup-a-soup.”

“Oh that is brilliant,” the Eleventh Doctor said with a giant grin.  He grabbed the phone off the TARDIS console and dialed a number.  He spoke briefly to the male scientist they had met at the National Gallery, McGillop. It had taken a few minutes to convince the man to take the Arkyitor portrait to the Black Archive. 

 

~oOo~

Time began to move inside the painting.  Rose took a moment to take in her surroundings.  This would be the closest that she would ever get to Gallifrey and her heart ached for what her husband had lost.  It was truly beautiful here.  All three Doctors marched forward into the Black Archive and Rose followed with Jenny.  

Rose observed as the Doctors went back and forth between the Zygons and the Humans. There were so many doubles it was making Rose’s head spin. Even she had a double here. She looked towards the Eighth Doctor and saw herself in all her Bad Wolf glory standing beside him.  Not for the first time she wondered why she was here.

The two Kates had been taking turns starting and stopping the countdown for the nuclear detonation. 

“You're about to murder millions of people,” the eighth Doctor said rolling his shoulders.

“To save billions,” Kate responded defending her decision.

“You tell yourself it's justified,” the Tenth Doctor said sadly. “But that’s a decision that no one should have to make.”

“So we are going to take that option off the table,” Eleven said with a manic grin that Rose knew was hiding his pain underneath.

“Any second now, you're going to stop that countdown,” the Doctor in brown said confidently.  “Both of you, together.”

In rapid fire, all the Doctors explained their negotiation plan.

 “Then you're going to negotiate the most perfect treaty of all time.”

 “Safeguards all round, completely fair on both sides.”

“And the key to perfect negotiation?”

 “Not knowing what side you're on.”

“So, for the next few hours, until we decide to let you out.”

“No one in this room will be able to remember if they're human or Zygon.”

The eldest Doctor jumped onto the table. He and the other Doctors soniced the memory filter in the ceiling causing the Humans and Zygons to forget which one is which.

Both Kate’s cried, “Stop the clock.”  The countdown had reached five seconds.

Rose watched as her second and third Doctors mirrored each other, throwing themselves into a chair, propping their feet up on the table and crossing her arms.  Jenny looked absolutely giddy watching her dads work and pulled over a chair to join them at the table mimicking the way they were seated. Rose smiled. Jenny needed this time with the Tenth Doctor after she had been cheated out of it the first time round.

 After several minutes she turned away scanning for her newest Doctor. He was sitting in a large wingback chair in the corner of the room sipping a cup of tea.   He looked up and grinned at her. Unable to help herself she smiled back and walked over to him.

“It’s been a hell of a day,” she said dropping into a chair opposite him.

 “Very true, it’s not every day you get to meet two future versions of yourself, not to mention your daughter and lovely wife.” He nodded in agreement.

They sat in silence for a minute both studying the other.  Rose looked down at the tea set on the table between them.  She quickly fixed herself a cup and then leaned back in her chair.

“They,” she nodded her head towards the two Doctors currently in negations with the look-a-likes, “think this is very early in the war for you.  It’s why they seem skittish, they know how difficult it’s going to get.” She took a deep breath before looking him in the eye.  “This is Karn for you isn’t it?” 

The Doctor looked taken aback.  “You know about that?  About who I’m about to become?”

A sad smile played at her lips.  “After a few centuries of marriage, there aren’t many secrets left between us. Even ones as painful as that one.”  Her eyes flicked to the woman that only she and this Doctor could see. 

“I suppose that she’s giving you a chance to peek into your future before you do it yeah?  A chance to see that if you choose to become the Warrior that one day you’ll get to be the Doctor again and I guess she’s who created the time fissures.” 

He took a sip of his before he put his cup down and leaned toward her.   “You are very observant and incredibly cleaver.” He smiled at her before his gaze flicked towards the Bad Wolf.   “I can see why Bad Wolf took your form.”

Rose turned her head towards her double.  “She didn’t really choose that form.  The dress maybe because I haven’t worn anything like that yet. But I am her.” She smiled at her doppelgänger before turning back to the Doctor.  

“I am the Bad Wolf, create myself,” Rose and the Bad Wolf said together. There was a momentary golden glow in the eyes of both women.

The Doctor looked gob smacked.   “How?” was all her was able to say.

“A very long time ago, we were facing the Daleks with no way to survive.” she explained slowly.  “So you sent me away in the TARDIS to keep me safe.  I didn’t like that.”

“I suppose you wouldn’t.” He gave a short laugh and she smiled.  “Tell me what happened.”

She studied him for a minute, deciding what to say.  “Long story short, I looked into the heart of the TARDIS and became Bad Wolf,” she explained and he gasped.  “I flew back to save you and destroyed those Daleks by pouring time into them.  Apparently, I did a bit more than we figured at the time.”

“Hence me being married to you for centuries even though you seem to be human in her twenties and the Bad Wolf visiting me on Karn.  Not to mention the fact that you are able to break the time lock to show me my own future,” the Doctor replied.

“You’re pretty clever yourself,” Rose teased giving him a tongue touched grin.

Reaching over he took her hand. “I don’t want to fight in this war.” He dropped his cheerful pretense. “When I became the Doctor I promised to make the Universe a better place and now I feel like I’m being forced to help destroy it.”

She griped his hand tightly.  “And you think if you believe the lie the Sisterhood told you about you dying, about needing to regenerate and drinking their potion that you can lock away that part of yourself later and forget.”

A tear ran down his cheek as he nodded. She moved toward him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.  The half hug wasn’t enough for him and he pulled her down into his lap.  He clung to her and Rose murmured soft calming words into his ear.

“I know you don’t think that you can do this.  But I have faith in you,” Rose said softly.  “You are the best man, the most amazing man that I have ever known.  The things that you have done have meant so much to so many. You are so much more than you give yourself credit for.”  She ran her fingers through his hair.

After quite a few minutes, his grip loosened and Rose moved back to her chair, keeping their hands clasped together. She scooted it as close to him as possible. “He regrets it. Every single life that was lost by his hand in the war, he wishes that there would have been another way.  I know he’s spent so many hours, years really, trying to work out if there had been another way.”

 The Eighth Doctor let out a ragged breath. “And there isn’t a way to end it other than to fight.”  It wasn’t a question, just a resigned fact.

“I am so, so sorry,” Rose said softly.

“Then, all things considered, it's time I grew up.”  He stood and pulled Rose up with him.   “I've seen all I needed. My moment has come.”  He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly for several moments.

Rose pulled back and looked him in the eye. “I know that you’ll have to forget today but I hope that being here and seeing this helps get you through the darkest moments.”

“I’m sure it will.” He lifted her hand to his lips and placed a kiss on her knuckles.  “I look forward to meeting you again, Rose Tyler.” 

He turned to the Bad Wolf.  “I’m ready.”

With a nod of her head a time fissure opened. The Doctor turned towards it.

“I’ll be there when the war is over,” Rose said, her voice shaking slightly.  “And we are going to be fantastic.”

A small smile played on the Doctor’s lips as he strode through the fissure.  He was gone, back to the time war.  A tear slid down Rose’s cheek.  She turned headed towards the exit to the black archive, needing a moment alone.


	6. Chapter 6

The Tenth Doctor glanced at the door for the seventeenth time in as many minutes.  His jaw clenched and he barely paid attention to the debate between the two Kates.  Eighteen minutes ago he had watched his former self disappear into yet another time fissure, presumably back to the Time War.  Soon after, Rose had left the Black Archive without a word or a backwards glance.  Hence why he kept looking at the exit.  He was waiting for her to come back.

They’d hardly had a moment alone since she appeared in that jail cell and he desperately need to talk to her.  He wanted answers to some of the questions he had rolling around in his head.  But more than that he needed to hold her hand, hear her voice and see her smile.

Something poked him in the ribs and he turned to see Jenny grinning at him.  “Mum probably just needed a mo. Too many Doctors competing for your attention would exhaust anyone.  You should go after her though.” She tilted her head at the Eleventh Doctor. “He and I can take it from here.”    Jenny patted his arm and turned her attention back to the negotiations.

The Doctor pushed his chair back, scrambled out of it and headed towards the door.  He picked up speed once he was in the corridor.  He had no idea where Rose had gone.  Knowing her she could be anywhere and probably doing something a little jeopardy friendly. 

When he finally made it outside of the Tower he was surprised by what he saw.  Both his TARDIS and the future Doctor’s TARDIS were standing right inside the gate. Nowhere near where they had left them.

“You moved the TARDIS,” he said astounded.  “On your own.” 

Rose patted the old girl and smiled.  “I’ve picked a few tricks since you last saw me. Figured you boys wouldn’t fancy having to get a ride from UNIT back for her.”  She held out her hand to him.  “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”

The Doctor hurried over and slid his palm against hers, lacing their fingers together.  “Are you sure you want to walk?” He pulled her slightly towards the TARDIS door.  “We could take a quick trip.  I could have you back a moment after we left.”

“Tempting, but I doubt you’d bring me back willingly and I wouldn’t want to risk the paradox we’d create if you don’t make it to our reunion on time.”  Rose started walking away from the Tower.

The Doctor followed her knowing that she was right. It was far safer for them to stay here. Because given half a chance he chance he would whisk her away and never giver her back.

They walked for a while in amiable silence, the Doctor squeezing her hand tightly.  “So married, eh?” He asked trying to sound casual.

“Yeah,” she looked at him and gave him a tongue touched grin.  “The first 60 years were a bit rough but after that it smoothed out a bit.”  She bumped his arm with her shoulder before sitting on a nearby bench.

He sat down next to her his mind racing at the thought of decades with Rose.  Centuries perhaps since his next self was 300 years older than he was.  “Are you happy?” he blurted out before he could stop himself. He’d spent a not so insignificant part of his time Rose wondering if one day she would realize that he was a killer, a man unworthy of her and that she would leave.

“Ridiculously happy,” she declared reaching up to cup his cheek.  “Our life is brilliant.  We travel the universe getting in all sorts of trouble.  We have Sunday tea with my mum and dad.  You coach my brother Tony’s football club.”   

“What?” The Doctor looked stunned.

Rose giggled and moved the hand on his face down to rest on his arm. “I know despite the fact that you seem a bit uncoordinated in that body, you are a surprisingly brilliant footballer. Not to mention the uniform hugs your bum quite nicely.”

The Doctor scoffed and Rose shook her head.  “No seriously, the other mum’s started showing up to practice just to ogle you.  Too bad for them you only have eyes for me.”

“And we have Jenny,” the Doctor added with a soft smile thinking of the amazing young woman he had met today.  It had been so long since he had been a father that he hadn’t been sure he would want to do it again.  But after today he was looking forward to it. “I didn’t think that we would be biologically compatible.  Not that I thought about it much.”

Rose let out a slow breath.  “We still don’t know if we are compatible. And to be honest I’m not sure I’d want to raise a baby from infancy.  It would severely limit the time I have left with Mum, Dad and Tony since we space out or visits to maximize the time I get. Not that I wouldn’t love to have a baby with you….” She trailed off and looked away blushing. 

“What?” The Doctor asked more than a little confused.

“Sorry,” Rose said turning back to him.  “Just a discussion that you and I have been putting off for a century or so and for a variety of reasons I’m a bit overwhelmed today.”  She squeezed his hand and smiled.  “Yes, we have Jenny but biologically speaking she’s not mine.”

He opened his mouth to protest.  There was no way he would have a child with any woman other than Rose.  However she stopped him by briefly putting her fingers to his lips.

“Jenny was proginated, from you.  This you,” Rose explained.  “Just a few months into your future actually. She was a created as a teenager.  So no nappies, or middle of the night feedings.  And no need to shorten time between visits to my Mum’s.”  She let out a sigh. “Even though Jenny and I don’t share DNA, I love her. And I feel like she’s my daughter. In the end that’s all that really matters.”

There were so many things that he wanted to ask her.  About their life together. About how long it was going to be before she came back to him.  But for now he’d have to push his curiosity aside. They were on very limited time. 

“Thank you,” the Doctor said softly.

It was Rose’s turn to be confused.  “For what?”

He lifted his hand to cup her face, his thumb grazing the apple of her cheek. “For everything.  For accepting my daughter. For staying with me through another regeneration.  But not for making me marry Elizabeth the first.” He gave her a cheeky grin.  “That was just plain mean.”

Rose smiled back and leaned in closer to him.  “Well stop proposing to other people and I’ll stop enjoying watching you squirm.”

“You must know though, that I don’t want anyone but you,” he said tenderly and shifted closer still. Their lips now only millimeters apart.  “I didn’t get a chance to say it before. Rose Tyler, I love you.”

He felt Rose smile and he finally, finally closed the infinitesimal but sometimes insurmountable distance between them.  For a fleeting moment the Doctor let himself to question why he hadn’t done this as much as possible when he’d had the chance. Then he let himself get lost in the sensation that was kissing Rose.

She nibbled on his bottom lip before sliding her tongue past his teeth.  A moan escaped him as he wrapped his arms tightly around her.  His fingers found the hem of shirt and Rose pulled back.  She leaned her forehead onto his.

“I love you,” he whispered. It was easier to say it now that he’d already told her.  “I meant to say it.  That day I burnt up the sun to say goodbye.  But I ran out of time. I wanted you to know, even if I couldn’t see you again.”

“I knew. I always knew.” Rose pressed her lips against his once more.   “And I love you too.”

Abruptly he stood pulling her with him.  “Come with me.  We can go somewhere anywhere.  I’ll have you back the second we left.  My future self won’t even know you were gone.”

Rose wrapped her arms around him.  “Doctor, we can’t.  You know that.”

“I can’t lose you again.”  He buried his face in her neck

“You’re not going to,” Rose replied softly.  “Today isn’t goodbye for us. You’ll see me again and it’s going to be fantastic.”

“Bloody brilliant if you ask me.”  The Eleventh Doctor’s voice pierced the perfect bubble that the Tenth Doctor had been in.  The younger Doctor pulled out of his hug with Rose but left an arm around her waist.

The older Doctor clapped his hands together.  “Wouldn’t change a minute of it. Even the time we were apart.” He gave his younger self a pointed look like he knew what they Tenth Doctor had wanted to do.  Which he probably did.

Jenny sighed and looked at Rose smirking.  “Sorry Mum.  I tried to keep him away for as long as I could. But there is no one that Dad is more jealous of than himself. Especially when it comes to you.”

“Oi,” both Doctors retorted in stereo.

Rose snorted and pulled the Tenth Doctor down the path towards her daughter.  “So everything sorted with the Zygons then?” she asked.  On the side opposite the Doctor she locked arms with the younger woman.  The group started walking slowly back towards the Tower of London.

The Doctor in brown sighed.  The adventure was winding down.  Too soon he would have to say goodbye to Jenny and to Rose.  He didn’t want to go.  As if she sensed his distress, Rose moved closer to him, lying her head on his shoulder.

“Yep,” Jenny replied smiling.  “The Zygons were finally convinced that Earth wasn’t quite ready for them. So back into stasis they went. And the humans are all happy and back to normal.”

The eldest Doctor, not to be ignored came up to Jenny’s free side.  The four of them walking side by side down the path must have made quite the sight, the younger Doctor thought.  Especially since his future self had taken to wearing _purple_ , of all colors.

“Although Kate was not too pleased that I liberated some of her artifacts,” the Doctor in purple explained.

“Why am I not surprised?” Rose said with a fond smile.

“To be fair, the only things I took actually belonged to me.”  The eldest Doctor scratched his cheek.  “And if a few files on the Tyler’s went missing, you can hardly blame me for protecting my family.”

“Ever the over protective son-in-law,” Jenny said with a giggle.  “Although if anyone came near Granddad or Uncle Tony, I’m sure that they would be ruing the day they messed with Gran Jackie.”

The Eldest Doctor looked at his watch.  “Speaking of Tony.  What day is it?” 

Rose shook her head and grinned, apparently able to keep up with his train of thought.  “It’s Wednesday.  Practice is Thursday and the match is on Saturday.”

The Doctor in purple smiled a dopey smile.  “That’s good then.”

“We really coach his football club?” The younger Doctor had thought Rose was winding him up.

“Why wouldn’t we?” the elder snipped back. “Just because you don’t have the skills doesn’t mean that I don’t.”

A car horn blared from the nearby road.  “And there’s my ride,” Jenny said sounding more than a little relieved.  A petite brunette waved from the front seat of a red convertible.

“I didn’t know you made plans with Clara.” Rose let go of the brown eyed Doctor to wave back to their friend.

 “I called her before we left the bunker.  Figured you’d want some alone time with Dad.” Jenny shrugged and gave her mum a quick hug.   “Either or both.  I really don’t want to know.”

“Cheeky,” Rose laughed, shaking her head.

The younger Doctor stared at his daughter for a moment.  “I wish I didn’t have to say good bye.”

“It’s never really goodbye, Dad.” She pulled the man who would soon proginate her into a tight hug.  “I’m sorry for how that day will go.  Just know that I’ll find you again and we will run.”

“When will we see you again?” the elder Doctor asked sounding slightly unhappy.

Jenny turned to him and kissed his cheek.  “I’ll see you tomorrow.  But I have a feeling that it’ll be a bit longer for you and mum. Not to worry though, I’ll be fine. Because I’ve got this.”  She pointed to the Vortex manipulator on her wrist.

“Kate said it only had enough power for one trip,” Rose reminded her.

“Oh mum, you keep saying it.”  The air was filled with the whir of a sonic and Jenny tossed the younger Doctor’s screwdriver back to him. “I am my father’s daughter.”

“No doubt about that,” the younger Doctor replied with a manic grin.

“Ask Clara if she and Danny want to join us for karaoke after Tony’s practice.” Rose said to her daughter.  “Promise her cocktails.  That always seems to work.”

Jenny grinned.  “I’ll promise her that if you promise me that you and Uncle Jack don’t do your duet of Lady Marmalade ever again.”

“Oh I can’t promise you that,” Rose laughed.

“That’s what I thought.  See you later.”  With that Jenny took off at a run towards her friend.

“ _Uncle Jack_?” the younger Doctor asked incredulously.

“Trust me mate, uncle is our safest bet.” the elder retorted.  “And for the record Rose, I have to agree with Jenny on one point.  I don’t enjoy Jack’s rendition of that song.  Although I do quite enjoy yours, my love.”

Rose met her husband’s eyes. “Voulez vous coucher avec moi?”

The younger Doctor’s jaw went slack as the older Doctor smugly adjusted his bow tie. “Well that is the plan.”

“Come along you two.  We can’t stand around waiting for the younger one to spontaneously regenerate because of our innuendo.” With a tongue touched grin, Rose tugged both her Doctor’s along the path. 

The elder Doctor snorted.  “Trust me, if all the sexual tension on the TARDIS before our reunion didn’t cause it, he’ll be able to handle our flirting.”  He looked over at his counterpart and winked.  “Besides this is tame.”

The trio kept walking back towards the Tower of London.  Rose continued to unabashedly flirt with both Doctors. The younger Doctor feeling lighter than he had since before Canary Wharf.  At least until they turns a corner and he caught sight of his TARDIS.  

“I don’t want to go,” he said softly.

“I know.” Rose’s grip on his hand tightened.  She turned to the older Doctor.  “Give us a mo.”

The Eleventh Doctor nodded and walked away. Rose continued to the TARDIS without the St. John’s Ambulance sticker.  Once there she turned to face him.

“Are you sure that I can’t convince you to take just one more trip with me?”  the Doctor asked knowing that she wouldn’t take him up on his offer.  No matter that he could see in her eyes how much she wanted to say yes.

Gently she cupped his face with both her hands.  “I love you.  I will always love you.”  Her thumbs lightly swept across his cheeks.  “Right now, in your timeline, I’m fighting like hell to get back to you.  And I’m not going to stop until I find you.”

“How long?” 

Instead of answering Rose kissed him.  Unlike their last passionate kiss this one was soft, more of a goodbye.  When Rose pulled back, the Doctor left his eyes closed for another moment.

He took a deep breath and took a step back towards his time ship.  “I’ll see you soon yeah?”

“Yeah,” Rose agreed.  “See you soon.”

Before he had a chance to change his mind the Doctor opened the door and walked inside the TARDIS.  Already forgetting his memories of today before he started the dematerialization sequence.  By the time he was in the Vortex it was locked away.

A thought struck him.  Perhaps he should visit Earth again, 21st century.  He’d been avoiding it since the Valiant.  He set the coordinates for London April 2008.  It seemed as good a time as any.

Back outside the Tower of London, Rose let out a sob as the TARDIS disappeared. Strong arms came around her from behind.  “You were brilliant today,” the Doctor said, resting his cheek against the crown of her head.

“So were you.” Rose leaned back into him.  “All three of you.”  She wiped a tear from her cheek.

“I know what you’re thinking.” He held her tighter. “I’m right here, Rose.”

With a sigh she turned to face him.  A lock of hair had fallen across his face, she gently pushed it back.  “I also said goodbye to a you that was missing me terribly.  Not to mention sending you back into the heart of the Time War.”

He kissed her forehead.  “Do you know what I was thinking back then?”

Unable to help herself, Rose grinned.  “What did I do to deserve that chin?”

“Ha, ha.” The Doctor mocked, rolling his eyes.  “No. Well yes.  There was quite a bit of internal insulting going on. I mean honestly, why did I think wearing sandshoes and a suit was an appropriate fashion statement?  And no matter what they thought, bow ties are cool. You love my bow tie. ”

Rose giggled and the Doctor gave her a reproachful look. “Back to the point.  Both of my younger selves wondered how we got so lucky to find a woman who loves us as much as you do.”  He ran a long finger across her cheek.  “I really don’t deserve you. I am, however, so glad that you chose me. My Arkytior.”

“You are the best man I know. All of you are.”   Rose pulled his head down and whisper his name, his true name in his ear.

The Doctor shivered and kissed her.  He teased her, nipping at her bottom lip before catching the corner of her mouth.  His lips brushing hers, then kissing her harder.

Rose pushed lightly at his chest, breaking them apart.  “As much as I’d like to continue that, it’s probably best not to in front of UNIT HQ.”  She tugged him towards their TARDIS.  “Time to go.”

“Anywhere, any when you wish,” he readily agreed, snapping his fingers to open the door.  “Do you have anything particular in mind?”

 “I believe I was promised _dancing_.” Rose gave him a tongue touched grin before darting inside and down the corridor. 

He sauntered up to the console. With efficiently and practiced speed, he went through the dematerialization sequence to send them into the Vortex. Unable to help himself, he grinned as he made his way down the corridor to his waiting wife.

After having spent the day having to share his Heart of the TARDIS with multiple versions of himself, he was grateful to have this time alone with her.  There was no doubt in the Doctor’s mind that Rose saw and would always see every one of his faces as absolutely the same man.  Or someday, maybe, the same woman.  But for now he would enjoy loving her with _this_ face. Chin and all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be short epilogue that I am posting tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for being patient with me on the updates on this. I am currently debating writing new drabbles or working on some very old unfinished projects. Either way I'm hoping to post more Eleven/Rose soon. :-)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue

The Eighth Doctor sunk to his knees. His body felt as if it was on fire.  Regeneration had already begun but he was simply ready for it all to end.  Ready to die along with everyone else.  The Moment had come and he had made that awful choice. 

As horrific as the war had been, never had he thought it would come to this.  “Bad Wolf,” he called to the empty farmhouse.  “Rose!”  He needed her now more than ever. Through the last hundred years, memories of what she had shown him kept him going.  He’d thought that somehow he would triumph. But he had been wrong.  There was no winner here.

Why hadn’t she warned him that this would be how it ended?

He felt fingers running gently ran through his hair.  “I’m right here Doctor,” his Bad Wolf assured him.  “I’ll always be beside you.”

“I was sure when I came in here. That there was no other way,” he sobbed, collapsing against her.  His hands began to glow with regeneration energy. “And now… I just don’t know.”

“Do you remember, all those years ago when I came to you on Karn?” she asked softly. “You've seen the men you will become.”

He stilled her hand and twined their fingers. “Those men, you, our daughter. Extraordinary.”

“Those men were you.”

Wincing in pain, he sat up and looked her in the eye. “How? How can I move on from this?”

“Great men are forged in fire.” With her free hand, she cupped his face. “You know the sound the TARDIS makes? That wheezing, groaning. That sound brings hope wherever it goes.”

 “Yes.” He leaned into her palm. “Yes, I like to think it does.”

“To anyone who hears it, Doctor. Anyone, however lost.”  The Bad Wolf’s eyes glowed golden and the sound of the time rotor filled the air. “Even you.”

The TARDIS began to materialize around them.  “How are you doing that?”

“I am she and she is me.”  She helped him to his feet now that they were in the console room. 

The regeneration energy in his veins glowed brighter.  “I don’t think I can do this.”

“It won’t be easy but of course you can.  You are the Doctor.”

The Doctor shook his head as every cell in his body began to rewrite itself.  “Not without you.”

She gave him a sly smile and kissed him softly.  “Then go find me.”

Golden light filled the room as it exploded with the power of the regeneration. A moment later a tall man with shorn hair, sharp features and large ears stumbled backwards.  He couldn’t remember how he had gotten here, alone in his TARDIS.  Why hadn’t he died in the war? 

He collapsed onto the floor.  He had never wanted to live.  That would have been too easy though.  Survival was his was his punishment.  His eyes fell shut as exhaustion hit him.  Just before he allowed the healing coma to begin he was overcome with the feeling that something or someone was missing.

The hum of the TARDIS soothed the emptiness in his head.  Perhaps, when he woke he’d try to find it.


End file.
